Columbia River - report (Updated for Sunday)

[WaterDog]

Headed out before daylight below Frenchman's Bar. First 30 mintues BAM! :grin: chrome 20+ lb springer with a fin. Thought, boy this could be a good day. WRONG. Turned out to be very slow. Of the 50+ boats around us we saw 12 hooked and 2 kept.

Got mine a sardine bait wrapped K14 (chrome/chartruse) and most others were using kwikies and a few folks pulling prawns/spin-glo. We fished in about 23 feet of water but saw fish hooked in as shallow as 15 feet and as deep as 30'. Funny to watch guys pull up to move out to the deeper water and no sooner do they get reanchored the boat they were fishing next to gets a hit. :blush:

Also, I'm seeing too many folks picking up the rod too soon and setting the hook. If your using kwikies you dont need to set the hook. Leave it in the rod holder until the fish is really taking line. I just sit there and watch it pump in the holder. Once the reel is screaming then pick it up. If your using spectra, loosen the drag a little too. Maybe this is old news but a lot of folks were not maximizing their chances.

I'll be out at the crack of dawn tomorrow(sunday). See ya!

[ 03-30-2003, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: WaterDog ]

[Pete]

Dog, were you throwing logs into the river, or was it someone upstream from you? :grin:

[WaterDog]

Pete, Wasnt me, blame the Willy. Over on the Washington side there was little debris other than grass and leaves. No logs! :smile:

[Beerbelly]

What time did you get there did you park in the boat launch lot or the over flow lot

[fish_on]

We fished the same area lanched at 0 dark 30 broke the motor running through the junk. Right at first light there was a good bite then it was slow. A fish here a fish there. We had a drive by and my wife caught 2 squaw fish, that makes 3 for her in the last 2 days. I just wish she could turn them into salmon. Maybe I should register her for the bounty :grin:

[WaterDog]

Sunday:

What a difference a day makes. Saw lots more action today than yesterday. Fished the same spot and put 3 Nooks to the boat. 2 were clipped. :grin:

Talk to Red and Fish_on on the VHF earlier in the day. Fish_on had one finned fish. Red, you do any good?

Looking forward to sleeping in and resting during the week.

[Red]

Waterdog,

You've done well this weekend! We fished from 0600 to 1300. One squaw fish was our total catch. We actually didn't see any fish caught . Maybe next time. BTW you've got mail!

You go Waterdog!